Medium
by Shadow Wasserson
Summary: A midnight lesson in Channeling dead people? What could possibly go wrong?


A/N: Well, they didn't cover _all_ the possible psychic powers, did they?

This is a new fandom for me, so I'm open to all suggestions for improvement.

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**Medium**

"Hup- two, cadets! If there's an emergency in the middle of the night, what does a Psychonaut do? Sit in their bunks and laze around til morning? No! They get up and go go go!"

Benny yawned and blinked blearily at his watch. "It's midnight, Coach!"

"If I hear another complaint out of you, cadet, there will be hell to pay! Now move!"

The inhabitants of the boy's cabin at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp groaned and dragged themselves out of their warm beds, shuffling grumpily out of their pajamas. What on earth had possessed Coach Oleander to wake them up like this in the middle of the night?

"Hey, Clem," whispered Raz, donning his Psychonauts uniform, which looked rather worn after having been put on every day for the past three weeks. "What's going on?"

Clem turned around with a grin that seemed to split his face in two. "Channeling!" he shrieked, in a voice that seemed ungodly loud for that time of night. Raz flinched. "We only do it once a year! It's awesome! Hooray for Channeling!!"

Raz thrilled. "Ooh! Ooh! I've _read_ about Channeling! Only a few psychics can do it, but a Channeler is an irreplaceable part of any team examining unexplained psychic phenomena."

"Wow, Raz, you're so smart!" gushed Clem. "How'd you know all that?"

Raz shrugged. "_True Psychic Tales_ issue 284."

"You maggots ready yet?" roared the Coach from outside the door. "If the girls beat you, we're leaving without ya!"

"Stupid Coach," growled Bobby as he shoved on his shoes. "Stupid Coach, stupid Channeling. Who wants to talk to stupid dead people?"

Raz disagreed. Who _wouldn't_ want to talk to dead people? How awesome would that be? Just imagine, you could talk to famous Psychonauts of the past! Or, you know, dead grandparents and stuff, but Raz doubted that his grandpa would have anything nice to say to him, frankly.

The boys trooped out of the cabin, and were at least relieved to see that they had beaten the girls out. Dogen yawned, and Benny picked his nose.

Raz could barely contain himself. He was sure that he would be able to Channel. _Sure_ of it. Everything else he'd learned at camp had come so easily to him, so why not this?

It seemed like an eternity for the girls to finally come out, to roars of "Get moving!" from the Coach, and the muttering campers were quickly ordered to march to the reception area.

"Lili! Lili hey Lili!"

The pigtailed girl rolled her eyes, but her gaze fell on Raz fondly. "What?"

"Are you excited about Channeling?"

"Eh, it's okay. Pretty dull, actually." Then, _Sneaking off together into the woods while everyone else is busy would be a lot less dull…_

Raz grinned and sent a thought back. _Maybe afterwards. I want to see this._

"Seriously, you won't miss anything," said Lili, this time out loud, and Raz shrugged.

When they made it to the enormous tree stump that served as an amphitheater, they saw an ancient, stooped woman waiting on the stage. Raz didn't recognize her.

"Alright troops!" bellowed Coach Oleander. "We will be covering Channeling this fine evening! It _will_ contribute to your final grade, so no falling asleep on duty!" Dogen, who had already started to doze on his feet, jerked back into consciousness. "Now! Meet retired Agent Sarah Tennenbaum, who will be instructing you in Channeling!" Oleander saluted, and the old woman blinked at him with rheumy eyes.

"Thank you, Morry," she said, and her voice was so whispery and quiet that the cadets had to strain to hear it. "Children," she breathed. "The art of Channeling is not something that can come to any psychic. We do not choose it. It, rather, chooses us."

Raz leaned forward, rapt. "If you feel nothing tonight, do not be disappointed. The art did not come to me my first time either." Raz nodded. He'd do it tonight, that was for sure!

"This will not be like the training you have gone through so far. We will simply open ourselves up to the forces of the world, and become doors through which psychic energy flows." Raz shot a glance over at Lili, who looked bored. _Wish she'd finish up already,_ she thought.

Sarah Tennenbaum smiled, her wrinkled deepening. "Now, let's all take a seat, shall we?"

The campers arranged themselves in a rough, kinda-circle kinda-oval, and sat down on the stage. The torches that usually burned there had been put out, and they jostled each other in the darkness.

"Ow, Kitty, that was my foot!"

"Don't sit on my lap, Milka!"

"Stop pushing!"

"Let me in!"

Razputin quickly found a spot between Lili and Chloe, until- "Excuse me."

Raz was suddenly pushed to the side, as Vernon sat himself between him and Lili. "Hey Vernon, I was going to…"

"What?"

"Uhn, nothing."

Eventually, they all got themselves settled, and Sarah Tennenbaum fished in her bag for a moment, drawing out a single candle. "Free psychic forces and disembodied minds, which you may know as 'spirits' or 'ghosts,' are drawn to light," the old woman whispered. "So it is best to give them only one source of light to go to, to concentrate them."

_That explains why we're in the dark!_ thought Raz happily. _Oh this is going to be so cool!_

_No, it won't_, replied Lili, and even her thoughts sounded bored.

"Now," said Tennenbaum. "We join hands, quiet our bodies and minds, and open ourselves to the universe. We are going to try to contact the disembodied mind of one of the many miners who lived here a hundred years ago."

Raz reluctantly took Chloe and Vernon's hands and took a deep breath, trying to quiet the excited fluttering in his chest. He closed his eyes and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Razputin Aquato, after three weeks' training at Whispering Rock, knew quite a bit about thoughts, and how they affected the world. He knew that angry, disgusted, aggressive thoughts could destroy things, while light happy thoughts could lift you up, and heated, excited thoughts could set things on fire. He knew how to read thoughts and scramble thoughts. But what he didn't know was how to _stop_ thoughts.

_Oh wow! This is so exciting! I wonder what Channeling will feel like? I wonder if Agent Nein can Channel? I wonder what the inside of a Channeler's mind looks like? I wonder what the inside of Lili's mind looks like? I wish I was holding Lili's hand instead of Vernon's. My leg itches. I wish psychics were immune to mosquitoes._

Raz listened very hard, hoping to get some signal that the ghost was around. But all he heard was Vernon's nasally breathing in his right ear, and the chirping of crickets. He began to tap his foot on the wood floor impatiently. When would something _happen?_

_Total yawnfest, right?_ thought Lili.

_Shhh. I'm still listening._

_I still say we should have snuck off to make out._

It felt like forever before Raz heard it. A weird, faint moaning sound, a wordless groan, coming from his left. _Oh wow. Oh wow. This is it!_

The moaning sound began to get louder, and suddenly Raz felt himself pulled to the side. His eyes flew open. "What…"

Chloe's hand had locked tightly around Raz's, and she was moving strangely, jerking, moaning, her head thrown back so far her helmet had actually slid off, exposing her face for the first time since Raz had met her.

All around him, kids were opening their eyes and gasping at the sight of Chloe. Raz moved his arm as if to help her-

"Don't break the circle!" Sarah Tennenbaum's voice had somehow gained in volume, and it cut through the sounds of Chloe's cries. "We got one."

Chloe's legs kicked out and drummed on the wood. Raz shuddered. Is this what Channeling does to you?

"Relax, child," said Tennenbaum gently. "Relax. Let it through."

Chloe's mouth opened and shut. "Ah!" she said, her voice rough, abnormal. "Ah, ah, I..."

Her eyes, Raz could see, were rolled back in her head.

"What is your name?" asked Tennenbaum. "Can you tell me?"

"Ah… my… mmm… my name is… Lllluhh… Loboto."

Raz's eyes widened. No. Oh no.

Raz opened his mouth to say something, some kind of warning, but he felt frozen in place, horrified, yet fascinated.

"Why are you here, Loboto?" asked Tennenbaum, her whispery voice eerily calm.

"Ah ah ah I… have to fin… finish the project." Chloe jerked, her hand clenching so hard around Raz's that it hurt. "Nnnnnh nice… little brains."

_What do we do?_ Raz wondered. Part of him said to let go of Chloe's hand, but the other part wanted to hang on. _He's inside Chloe!_

"Why do you want to finish the project, Loboto?"

Chloe took a deep, rattling breath. "I… want… hhhhhnnnn… everything. Aha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Raz looked around at the other campers. They seemed as frozen as he felt, staring at Chloe with their mouths open.

"Where… where is my lab?"

"It is destroyed, Loboto," said Tennenbaum. "It is gone, and there is nothing you can do."

Chloe's face twisted. "Grrrruhhh… Give me it! I want it! My bruuuuhhh... brains!"

"You are finished, Loboto. Accept it and be at rest."

"Nngggh… no!"

"Children," said Tennenbaum quietly. "Help me to push him out."

Raz felt a pulse go through his arms, and added his own energy to it, focusing it towards Chloe.

Chloe shuddered and twisted, her hand spasming in Raz's. She screamed, her voice hoarse, and out of the corner of his eye Raz could see Bobby grinding his teeth. Chloe's back arched, and suddenly she fell backwards, her hand finally releasing Raz's.

Chloe was still screaming, but now the sound had at least a more human quality. Tennenbaum hobbled over to her, and took the small girl into her arms.

"Hush, child, hush. It's over."

"They- they- weren't…" Chloe was sobbing, her face streaked with tears. "They weren't…"

"It's alright. He didn't hurt you."

"He… he wanted to…"

"He's gone now. Everything's alright."

Raz swallowed a lump in his throat. This was nothing like _True Psychic Tales Magazine_. This was horrible.

Something shoved him aside roughly, and then Bobby was there, peering at Chloe's small form. "You okay, Chloe?" he grated, an incongruous look of concern on his face.

Chloe sniffed and dragged her hand across her eyes. "They weren't aliens, Bobby," she said miserably. "The whole time… It's not..." She burst back into tears.

"Shh," said Tenenbaum, "shhh…"

"Well," said a voice, and the campers jumped, having completely forgotten about Oleander. "Looks like we've had enough Channeling for tonight, hmm? Back to the cabins, cadets! Now! That means you too, Zilch!"

All the campers but Chloe, who was still sobbing into Sarah Tennnbaum, jumped to their feet and began running back to the cabins, trying to leave what they had just seen behind them. No one seemed to notice when Raz and Lili slipped off, which probably had to do with the fact that they were both invisible at the time.

"Hey, you alright?" asked Lili. Raz was staring straight ahead, a far off look in his eyes.

"Wha? Oh, yeah." Raz ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I just didn't expect it to go like that."

"Yeah, me neither," confided Lili. "I've been coming here since I was seven, and that's never happened."

"I thought… I thought that it would be me. That I would be a Channeler."

Lili wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, 'cause you're _so_ good."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Lili smiled cheekily, but her expression was lost in the darkness. "But hey, I didn't drag you out here to be a stick in the mud."

"I know, Lili. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just not in the mood right now. I just hope Chloe will be okay."

"Oh."

Lili paused for a moment, then leaned forward and hugged Raz. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Lili got up and yawned. "It's late. I'm going back to the cabins, k?"

"G'night Lili."

"G'night."

Raz listened as Lili's footsteps faded into the sounds of the night, the crickets chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. An owl shrieked, and Raz shuddered.


End file.
